Tangling in the Land of Oz!

About emeraldcitytangles

Here I am, in the Emerald City, and I'm tangling away! I came across Zentangles one day while surfing the web and I was hooked! As a Certified Zentangle Teacher (at this moment the only one in Kansas), I offer a variety of classes so you, too, can experience the Zen! Group workshops, private workshops, or team building workshops are available. Please email me at EmeraldCityTangles@yahoo.com or feel free to call me at 316.253.8899. I will travel (some additional expenses may apply). HAPPY TANGLING!

It’s been almost a month since my last post and, as usual, much has been happening…

I had an opportunity to paint with a student recently that had never painted on canvas before. Mind you, she is a creative type, but I was just blown away by the piece she completed with my instruction. Here are a couple of pictures…

The Annual Chalk Festival was held at the beginning of August and we had great weather and fun! If you scroll down through the comments in the link, you’ll see that Ralph Joest, Mutual of America, picked up my house chalk painting. This was my first time participating as an artist. I’d love to do again next year and have more of you join us. It’s for a good cause and it’s wonderful to see all the art that is created. Plus there’s YOB (frozen yogurt) right in the square and makes for a great treat after a long, hot day!

Diana – Chalk Festival 2015

Bonnie – Chalk Festival 2015

Zentangle Chalk Festival 2015

The Wichita Tanglers have been very busy working on Christmas ornaments that will be sold at the ZenXpressions Art Show at the end of September. The money we collect will be given to a local charity. If you haven’t submitted your application for the show, please get cracking! It’s less than two months away! Don’t worry if you don’t know what you will be entering, just complete the application to the best of your ability and get your payment in to hold your spot. Titles of the pieces can be provided later, and the artwork itself isn’t due until closer to the show. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to call me. You can download the application instructions here, and the application for entry here.

Zentangle Ornaments

Zentangle Ornaments

Completed Ornaments

Vision Quest

Those of you who are interested in exploring your creative side on a greater scale might consider participating in Vision Quest. If you want to create change, to invest in what you know is POSSIBLE for you, and to open up and expand the way you feel about your life, Vision Quest starts September 11. As your Creatively Fit Coach, I’ll be working right along side of you, to hold you accountable, tailor the experience to your needs and love you through the process. Everything you need to know can be found here.

Botanica has requested that I return again, this time to share creating Zentangle Christmas Cards (a couple of examples are shown). The event will be held November 5th if you are interested, and is for anyone – beginners and advanced alike (21 years and older, please, as you are able to bring wine with you). Botanica has not yet posted the link for this workshop…it should appear on their events calendar soon.

Zentangle Christmas Card

Zentangle Christmas Card 2015

I think that’s plenty to keep you up-to-date on what’s happening at Emerald City Tangles Studio!

My coach, Whitney Freya, is always talking about infinite possibilities…”Just like the blank canvas, infinite possibilities exist in the art that is your life,” and “Life is the canvas of your soul”. That is so, so true. I had NO IDEA at the beginning of 2015 what an adventure I was in for. Sometime at the very beginning of the year I posted some art I was working on in a Facebook post and it prompted an old friend to comment, “you need to be a part of our tribe”. What the heck? It turns out this friend had taken the Creatively Fit program from Whitney a few years before and was thoroughly enjoying the “infinite possibilities” that had now become a large part of her life. Always being open to new opportunities and because I was beginning to allow my creative juices to once again flow, I asked her to connect me to Whitney so I could learn more.

I knew in my heart that I wanted to create more. My Zentangle training had awakened my Artist Within and now I wanted to continue on that journey. Although I grew up in a family of artists, I never had any formal training, and I always thought that I needed formal training to be called an artist. One of the first lessons I learned from Whitney was that I was an artist! My Artist Within wanted to get out and begin participating in the art that was my life! Because, you see, just as you create art from a blank canvas, you create the life you want on the canvas of your soul. How exciting is that?? Although I wanted to be creative, I needed guidance. Whitney became that guiding force through her program, now called VISION QUEST.

As I began creating art on a daily basis (even for as little as five minutes), I began to understand that my right brain had been dormant for way too long. I’m a pretty organized person (if you go into my closet you’ll see that all my shoe boxes are labeled…okay, okay, maybe a touch of OCD – LOL) and I keep track of my life with my calendar and to-do lists. My left brain was so strong that my right brain was crying, “help me, I’m melting!” My left brain was the dominant force and my right brain really, really wanted to have a say. Through the Creatively Fit/Vision Quest experience, my right brain is getting stronger every day, providing me with insight and understanding of the infinite possibilities that can and are occurring in my life these days. I’m now using art making as an expression of my life! The connection between personal creativity and personal growth and fulfillment is real and your Artist Within knows it.

YOU have an “Artist Within.” Your Artist Within lives in your right hemisphere and is the part of you that thinks intuitively, fearlessly, and creatively. You might also call your Artist Within your Higher Self, your Soul or Spirit. It is infinitely creative, infinite in its perspective, and the only part of you that can CREATE miracles, joy, passion, and radical AUTHENTICITY. ART making is SO much more than creating product; it’s about creating a life that is ART!

So, would you like to ignite your passion, experience more ah-ha’s, enjoy more excitement and feel less stressed? Join me on the VISION QUEST journey this September (open the EVENTS tab). If you are anything like me, you’ve spent hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars on books, online courses and other “stuff” that is probably STILL sitting on your bookshelf and in your computer! The Vision Quest experience will provide you with accountability and you will never be the same! I will accompany you on that journey every step of the way! Commit to four months – change WILL happen. Your Artist Within WILL be unleashed!

Here is a quote from another fellow Rainbow Warrior Vision Quester. Her words echo exactly what I feel…

“Before the Creatively Fit Program I felt very stuck, and while I intellectually took responsibility for my life, I had repressed my soul’s callings and labeled them as ‘impractical’…In spite of having many ‘successes’ and blessings, life felt very ‘heavy’ and ‘quietly desperate’ (Thoreau)….Immersing myself in Creating & the Creatively Fit program has brought such New Life and has helped me to see possibilities. While I’m very much still on this Journey, I more fully ‘own’ truly being the Artist of My Life. I’m more accepting of letting things flow vs. needing to have detailed plans. I’m becoming more brave in putting my art ‘out there’ and am filled with new energy & excitement. This program has truly changed my life and has greatly supported me in excavating my true self.”

YOU can become part of this “tribe” THIS SEPTEMBER 2015!

You want to create change, to invest in what you know is POSSIBLE for you, and to open up and expand the way you feel about your life. Your Creatively Fit Coach [ME :)] is here to hold you accountable, tailor the experience to your needs and love you through the process.

It starts SEPTEMBER 11, 2016, and ends JANUARY 11, 2016! Here’s where you’ll find all the information — Open the EVENTS tab once you arrive at the site. We are combining personal creativity, art making, spirituality, self-awareness and personal transformation in a whole new way. Not just for a weekend, or an evening. It won’t be experienced on an isolated page somewhere in cyber space. It will be personal, interactive, communal and expansive. Big change requires time and integration, guidance and inspiration, support and contrast, creativity and courage.

Four months from now, you won’t remember what it was like to NOT be surrounded by your own original art, your talismans and messages from your Soul.

You WILL remember your purpose, your passion, your own special “secret sauce” that is what you, and only you, can bring to the world. You WILL remember that, in fact, you are the sole CREATOR of your experience and you WILL remember how to take back that power.

I’m so excited to tell you that the first Viva Art & Vino class at Three Pea Consignment was a success!! Seven students were in attendance and we laughed, had fun, drank wine, and painted…with a lot of paint! At the end of the class we took all the left over paint and put it on a blank canvas that I’ll use in the future for a new painting — so everyone will have a part in that! Maybe I’ll use it for my “Winged Dog”. Of course it looks a bit more like a deer than a dog, but that’s okay…it’s just a sketch.

I also wanted to share one of the things I’m working on, a combination of layer painting and Zentangle. Technically it’s considered a “ZIA or Zentangle Inspired Art” piece. If I get it done before September, I may hang it at the ZenXpressions art show that will be held on Final Friday, September 25, 2015, at the Tessera Fine Art Gallery. Don’t forget, there are only three months to go for you to complete your projects for that show…so get tangling!!

I’m also offering a FREE workshop to kick off the Viva Art & Life series. In it you’ll learn to create your own Dream/Vision Board. YOU MUST REGISTER to attend this workshop as there is a class limit of 25 for it.

Torn Face Collage

I’m also working on “Viva Art & Life Soapbox”, a video series that you can get a free subscription to.

It will be a video email that you’ll receive once a week with an artist’s quote for inspiration and a little thought from me. I’m not exactly sure when that will be ready to go, but I’ll let you know!

There has been a lot going on here lately! This Thursday, the first Viva Art & Vino class kicks off at Three Pea Consignment Shop and we’ve got a nice class roster going. I am looking forward to sharing but must admit I’m a little nervous. I’ve been teaching Zentangle classes now for three years and feel quite comfortable with that, but this is a new venture for me. I’ve loved art ever since I was little and now, finally, in my 60’s, I’m DOING IT! Part of my mission is to share this, so that people don’t have to wait that long to tap into their right brain creativity. I’m hoping that younger women will take time for themselves, to cultivate their creativity sooner. Women, especially, are tuned into working, taking care of their families, doing the shopping, laundry, cooking and all that goes along with either having a family or having to provide for themselves that they often don’t take time to nurture the person who they NEED to nuture — themselves. I know because I was one of them. I was so busy DOING for everyone else that I completely lost my identity and my creativity. So, PLEASE, PLEASE, take time to nurture yourself so that you have more to give to those you love.

Okay…off my soapbox 🙂

I wanted to share with you some of the pieces that I’ve been working on recently, I’ve peppered photos throughout this blog entry and they are now in the gallery. A

Torn Face Collage

So along with the Viva Art & Vino classes, I’m working on what I call Viva Art & Life. Working with my coach, Whitney Freya, has been such a wonderful experience. Before I started with her I was what I would call stiff and compelled. By that I mean, I was judgmental of myself and the work I was producing. I felt that to be an artist meant that I had to do perfect work, work that would be able to be sold, because wasn’t that the definition of an artist? Someone who was professional and could sell their work? I also was so crazy about making sure everything was clean and neat! I wasted a lot of paint (and time) because I would constantly be washing my brushes out or throwing things out. But with Whitney’s guidance through her Creatively Fit Coaching Program, I have thrown abandon to the wind (instead of the paint and canvas)…well, not completely, I still like to be somewhat tidy but nothing like I was, obsessed! Now I choose to be nonjudgmental, I choose to mix colors on the SAME paintbrush, I choose to paint over something if I don’t like it (rather than toss it)! My right brain has kicked in and I am learning to accept ME. Such a marvel. I have learned so much about myself in this process. Part of my coaching has been to use a journal for my scribble drawings, paper collages, sketches, etc. These tools have been so useful in my journey. And…. I now Am an ARTIST! Even if it’s just for me, my eyes alone. Even if I can’t sell it (LOL – I’ll give it away to my family for Christmas!). Even if it has to be painted over, because then I’ve learned a valuable lesson.

So, with that said, I’d like to begin sharing some of those tools and concepts with others as well. I will be sharing about the first Viva Art & Life workshop in the next couple of weeks. I am finishing up the syllabus for that workshop as I type. I’ll give you a hint – it will include drawing and painting mandalas. It will teach you how to mix colors, how to create mandalas, how to tap into your right brain creativity which will, in turn, help you to focus MORE on the things you want in your LIFE. You can read about MORE in the May 26, 2015, blog post. Here’s a portion from that blog post…

Stained Glass Window Painting in progress. Notice how I’ve painted over the Flower Power painting!

If you want MORE, where do you go???

When I say MORE, I’m talking about:

MORE MEANING in your life

MORE OPPORTUNITY in your life

MORE REJUVENATION in your life

MORE ENJOYMENT in your life

Won’t you JOIN me in this JOURNEY?? I can’t wait to walk the road with you!

A NEW ADVENTURE!

Kudos to Kandinsky

Come join me as we debut a paint and sip class, VIVA ART & VINO, on June 18, 2015!

Well, not just any paint and sip class. There are a couple of things that makes this different than most of the paint and sip classes in the area. First of all, I’ve been studying under Whitney Freya of Creatively Fit (I’ll soon be able to say CCFC after my name – Certified Creatively Fit Coach), an AMAZING WOMAN to say the least, one who has helped me access my infinite possibilities…

And, secondly, most paint and sip classes are easy and fun (and we certainly want them to be THAT…after all, it’s all about the Socialization, Fun, and Relaxation for a few hours, plus the Wine helps, too!)…BUT, what if you want MORE???

If you want MORE, where do you go???

When I say MORE, I’m talking about:

MORE MEANING in your life

MORE OPPORTUNITY in your life

MORE REJUVENATION in your life

MORE ENJOYMENT in your life

We live in such a harried, stressful world nowadays. Things to do, people to see, places to go…rush, rush, rush. Everyone clamoring for our time and energy! The tech world has provided us with so many ways of communication — phones, tablets, computers, watches — that we sometimes don’t even look up to see into the eyes of the person we’re sitting with!!

The eyes are the window to the soul (paraphrasing Shakespeare).

What are their eyes telling you? Are they happy, sad, lonely? What do people see when they look into YOUR eyes?

“The whole culture is telling you to hurry, while the art tells you to take your time. Always listen to the ART (heART)” – Junot Diaz (again, I changed it slightly by using the word heART).

Have you been craving something MORE in your life but don’t know where to start?

Start with the paint and sip classes at VIVA ART & VINO. Feel the fun of creativity, sense the serenity or sensationalism that comes from creating art, realize the reaction to creating something that isn’t right or wrong. If you enjoy all that and you want to delve deeper into what ART can offer you, then move into the VIVA ART & LIFEseries (link coming soon). This is where you’ll find your Artist Within, where your untapped potential has been sitting and waiting, where your dreams and hopes have been left dormant and are screaming to get out!

Oh, I can hear the excuses now!!

“I don’t have time”

“I can’t really draw/paint/whatever”

“I can’t afford hundreds of dollars to learn all that”

The excuses will always come, trust me. But, I can show you in one clarity session that you have time; I can show you in one or two lessons that you CAN be an artist (maybe not one who sells their artwork and makes millions of dollars, but you ARE the artist [of your life] nonetheless); and I can show you how to bring out your Artist Within to resurrect your dreams and hopes without spending a fortune.

You get to decide if and how deep you want to go. It’s all up to you as to which way your journey’s path will wind. Need someone to walk with you for a while? Let me know. We can walk for an hour, a day, a weekend, a week, or a month. VIVA ART & LIFE – Live It!

Back in 2014, Together Wichita became a community-wide initiative to showcase people, places and their creations that make Wichita special. Since 2014 marked the 40th anniversary of Kiowa artist Blackbear Bosin dedicating his artwork, Keeper of the Plains, to the City of Wichita, Heather Denker, project manager for Together Wichita 2014, wanted to find a project to build community and leave a lasting impression. Special permission was given by the Bosin family for the art project of erecting 10-foot fiberglass replica statues of the Keeper of the Plains at various locations throughout the city. Artists who were interested in participating in decorating the Keepers submitted proposals for the blank replicas and selected artists would receive an honorarium upon completion and approval of their painted Keeper.

One of our very own regular Tangle & Talk tanglers, Patti Doll, submitted her proposal using the Zentangle method for decoration and was selected to complete one! She now has a 10-foot statue in her garage that she’s working on. Additional photos will be posted along the way as she completes her project! Then we’ll let you know where it’s located in Wichita so you can go downtown and take a look!!

Happy Tangling!! B

Just learned that Patti’s statue was purchased by the Kansas Leadership Council.